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Anthropology

Dr. Alison Murray

Alison Murray

Associate Professor

Anthropology

Status:
On leave

Accepting graduate students

Contact:
Office: Cornett B211 250-721-7056
ORCID:
0000-0003-2914-5206
Credentials:
PhD (Cambridge)
Area(s) of expertise:
Biological anthropology, functional anatomy, skeletal biology, life history

Bio

My research examines (1) how life history, metabolism, and physical activity affect human bone and body composition across the lifecycle, and their roles in shaping age-related disease risk, and (2) the impact of skeletal variation on locomotor biomechanics among hominins.

Interests

  • biological anthropology
  • functional anatomy
  • metabolism
  • healthy aging
  • skeletal biology
  • life history
  • evolutionary biomechanics

Courses

  • ANTH 250 Biological Anthropology

  • ANTH 352 Human Osteology

  • ANTH 357 Evolutionary Biology of Contemporary Health

  • ANTH 358 Biology of Human Skeletal Variability

  • ANTH 456/552E Evolutionary Anthropology

  • ANTH 511/611 Advanced Research Seminar in Inequality, Culture and Health

Selected publications

(Previously published under the name Macintosh)

  • 2026 (in review)Murray AA. The maternal foundations of terrestrial vertebrate success. In: Exploding the myths of human evolution: How female bodies and non-gendered behaviours have shaped our species. Kurki H, Wall-Scheffler C, editors. Oxford University Press.
  • 2026 (in review)Murray AA. Un-essaying the evolutionary biology of contemporary health. In: The Unessay Across the Disciplines: Practical Advice from Instructors in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM. O’Donnell D, Bordalejo B, and Cordell R, editors. University of Alberta Press.
  • 2026 Longman DP, Murray A, Brown EL, Lewis C, Millis RM, Novak T, Muehlenbein MP, Wells JCK, Stock JT.Experimental evidence of life history trade-offs during ultra-endurance physical activity. Evo Hum Sci 8:e14
  • 2026 Murray AA, Longman DP, Brown EL, Nowak TJ, Muehlenbein MP, Wells JCK, Stock JT. Birth weight shapes renal damage from prolonged endurance activity later in life.Front Ecol Evol 14:1800460 
  • 2026 Ash A, Murray A. Walking tall: Stress and stature amongst the first farmers of Neolithic Central Europe. In: Rosenstock E, Ebert J (editors). Rethinking Stature: Human height and the concept of biological welfare in a long-term perspective. Heidelberg: Propylaeum.
  • 2023 Murray AA, MacKinnon M, Carswell TMR, Giles JW. The effect of longitudinal femoral and tibial curvature on the kinematics of locomotion in steep terrain. Front Ecol Evol 11:1220567
  • 2022 Murray A. Variability and the form-function framework in evolutionary biomechanics and human locomotion. Evo Hum Sci 4:e129.
  • 2021 Murray A, Erlandson M. Tibial cortical and trabecular parameters together can pinpoint the timing of impact loading relative to menarche in premenopausal females. Am J Hum Bio 2021:e23711.
  • 2021 Longman DP, Murray AA, Roberts R, Oakley S, Wells JCK, Stock JT. Female ultra-endurance athletic performance reflects sex-specific evolutionary energetics. Evol Hum Sci 3:e222.
  • 2020 Murray AA, Stock JT. Functionally-related muscle force interacts with stature to influence polar second moments of area in the lower limb among adult women. Am J Phys Anthropol 173:258-275.